Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer To Hit Theaters This August [VIDEO]

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks announced Wednesday (April 25) that it will undertake its very first independent distribution effort, by way of Spike Lee’s new project Red Hook Summer, which will hit New York theaters August 12.

The Brooklyn coming-of-age story marks a collaboration between the production company, and the Manhattan-based, Variance Films, for the theatrical release. “From my very first joint back in 1986, She’s Gotta Have It, I have been an independent filmmaker, and even today I still am,” Lee said in a statement.”I’m elated to join forces with Variance Films for the independent distribution of my new joint Red Hook Summer. We look forward to getting this film into the marketplace, where we believe 100 percent that there is a starving audience for American independent films like Red Hook Summer.”

In the past, the 55-year-old, who recently produced a Hip-Hop horror film, has criticized Hollywood’s lack of understanding of black films. His latest effort tells a story of Flik Royale, a boy from middle-class Atlanta who comes to Brooklyn to meet his grandfather, Bishop Enoch Rouse, for the first time. Royale travels to the Red Hook housing projects, to stay with the deeply religious Rouse. The two quickly get off on the wrong foot, as Rouse unsuccessfully tries to convert his grandson into a follower of Jesus Christ. Flik’s summer seems to be disastrous until he meets Chazz Morningstar, a girl his age who shows him around New York’s largest borough.

Following its New York debut, Red Hook Summer will expand to 30 markets throughout the month of August.